2018 Phoenix Mercury season

The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Phoenix Mercury franchise of the WNBA. The season tipped off on May 14.^[1]

2018 Phoenix Mercury season
Coach	Sandy Brondello
Arena	Talking Stick Resort Arena
Attendance	9,950 per game
Results
Record	20–14 (.588)
Place	2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	5th seed; lost in Semifinals to Seattle
Team Leaders
Points	Diana Taurasi – 20.7 ppg
Rebounds	Brittney Griner – 7.7 rpg
Assists	Diana Taurasi – 5.3 apg
Media
Television	Fox Sports Arizona (FS-A)
← 2017 season 2019 season →

The Mercury started the season slowly, going 2–3 in May. They won the first two games, but lost the next three. All five games were against eventual playoff teams. However, the Mercury caught fire in June, posting an 11–2 record which included an 8 game winning streak. The June high turned into a July low. The team was 2–7 in July with their only wins coming against Connecticut, and league-worst Indiana. The Mercury managed to turn it around and end the season on a high, going 5–2 in August. Their regular season ended on a three game winning streak, with all games coming against playoff teams. The Mercury finished the season 20–14, with the 5th seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs.

As the fifth seed, the Mercury had to play an opening round game against the Dallas Wings at home. The Mercury won by 18 points, 101–83. This win saw them advance to the second round where they played the fourth seeded Connecticut Sun in Connecticut. Again, the Mercury won, this time by 10 points. With the win, the Mercury advanced to the Semifinals to face the first seeded Seattle Storm. The home team won each game in the five game series. However, the Mercury did not have home court advantage, due to being the lower seed, and lost the series 2–3 despite nearly completing a dramatic comeback after being down two games to none.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2018 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	12	Marie Gülich	Germany	Oregon State
2	20	Tyler Scaife	United States	Rutgers
2	21	Raisa Musina	Russia	UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia)
3	26	Imani Wright	United States	Florida State

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 1, 2018	Sign F Sancho Lyttle[2]
February 2, 2018	Acquired 21st pick in the 2018 WNBA draft in exchange for C Cayla George.[3]
February 2, 2018	Acquired 26th pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and a 3nd round pick in the 2019 WNBA draft in exchange for C Kelsey Bone.[4]
February 2, 2018	Re-signed G Yvonne Turner and G Emma Cannon[5]
February 5, 2018	Re-signed F Camille Little[6]
February 13, 2018	Re-signed G/F DeWanna Bonner[7]
March 6, 2018	Acquired G Briann January in exchange for the 8th pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft.[8]
March 6, 2018	Acquired the 12th pick in the 2018 WNBA draft in exchange for G Danielle Robinson and a second round pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.[9]

Roster

2018 Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 24 Bonner, DeWanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 143 lb (65kg) 1987-08-21 Auburn 8 C 42 Griner, Brittney 6' 9" (2.06m) 205 lb (93kg) 1990-10-18 Baylor 5 C 21 Gülich, Marie 6' 5" (1.96m) 199 lb (90kg) 1994-05-28 Oregon State R G 12 January, Briann 5' 8" (1.73m) 144 lb (65kg) 1987-01-11 Arizona State 9 F 20 Little, Camille 6' 2" (1.88m) 180 lb (82kg) 1985-01-18 North Carolina 11 F 31 Lyttle, Sancho  6' 5" (1.96m) 175 lb (79kg) 1983-09-20 Houston 13 G 5 Mitchell, Leilani 5' 5" (1.65m) 138 lb (63kg) 1985-06-15 Utah 9 F 14 Peters, Devereaux 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 1989-10-08 Notre Dame 5 C 0 Robinson, Angel 6' 6" (1.98m) 193 lb (88kg) 1987-04-20 Georgia 2 G 8 Talbot, Stephanie 6' 2" (1.88m) 192 lb (87kg) 1990-12-20 Australia 1 G/F 3 Taurasi, Diana 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 1982-06-11 Connecticut 13 G 6 Turner, Yvonne 5' 10" (1.78m) 131 lb (59kg) 1987-10-13 Nebraska 2	Head coach Sandy Brondello (Western Sydney) Assistant coaches Julie Hairgrove (Arizona) Todd Troxel (Doane) Strength and conditioning coach Jonathan Mak (Illinois State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Pre-season

2018 pre-season game log
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 8 @ Seattle L 69–73 Bonner (13) Tied (6) 3 Tied (3) KeyArena 3,502 0–1 2 May 12 Seattle L 61–84 Griner (14) Lyttle (11) Bonner (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 4,535 0–2
2018 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2018 game log Total: 20–14 (Home: 9–8; Road: 11–6)
May: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 18 Dallas W 86–78 Taurasi (26) Bonner (12) Mitchell (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,210 1–0 2 May 20 @ Seattle W 87–82 Griner (29) Griner (10) Bonner (7) KeyArena 8,602 2–0 3 May 23 Seattle L 71–87 Taurasi (23) Bonner (9) Lyttle (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,068 2–1 4 May 27 @ Los Angeles L 72–80 Lyttle (20) Tied (5) January (7) Staples Center 11,201 2–2 5 May 30 Washington L 95–103 Griner (27) Lyttle (7) Taurasi (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,188 2–3
June : 11–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 8–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 June 1 @ Minnesota W 95–85 Taurasi (29) Griner (9) Taurasi (6) Target Center 8,830 3–3 7 June 3 @ Atlanta W 78–71 Tied (20) Tied (7) Taurasi (8) McCamish Pavilion 3,796 4–3 8 June 5 @ New York W 80–74 Griner (26) Griner (6) Taurasi (8) Madison Square Garden 7,215 5–3 9 June 8 Chicago W 96–79 Griner (24) Griner (8) Taurasi (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,834 6–3 10 June 10 Las Vegas W 72–66 Taurasi (25) Griner (15) January (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,471 7–3 11 June 12 @ Dallas W 75–72 Taurasi (21) Lyttle (10) January (6) College Park Center 4,026 8–3 12 June 16 Connecticut W 89–72 Taurasi (19) Tied (9) January (8) Talking Stick Resort Arena 12,497 9–3 13 June 17 @ Las Vegas W 92–80 Taurasi (28) Bonner (9) Taurasi (7) Mandalay Bay Events Center 4,432 10–3 14 June 22 Minnesota L 72–83 Taurasi (23) Griner (13) Taurasi (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,349 10–4 15 June 24 @ Chicago L 88–97 Griner (19) Griner (10) Taurasi (8) Wintrust Arena 4,741 10–5 16 June 26 @ New York W 83–69 Taurasi (27) Griner (9) Taurasi (7) Westchester County Center 1,839 11–5 17 June 29 @ Indiana W 95–77 Taurasi (25) Bonner (9) Turner (7) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,241 12–5 18 June 30 @ Washington W 84–74 Griner (24) Turner (9) Taurasi (9) Capital One Arena 6,218 13–5
July : 2–7 (Home: 1–4; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 19 July 5 Connecticut W 84–77 Taurasi (25) Bonner (13) Turner (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,599 14–5 20 July 8 @ Atlanta L 70–76 Taurasi (19) Robinson (10) 3 Tied (3) McCamish Pavilion 3,952 14–6 21 July 10 @ Dallas L 72–101 Griner (21) Tied (4) Mitchell (8) College Park Center 4,034 14–7 22 July 13 @ Connecticut L 87–91 Taurasi (28) Tied (7) Tied (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,696 14–8 23 July 15 @ Indiana W 101–82 Griner (36) Griner (12) Taurasi (7) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 6,302 15–8 24 July 19 Las Vegas L 82–85 Taurasi (33) Robinson (11) Taurasi (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,587 15–9 25 July 21 Minnesota L 75–80 Bonner (29) Little (6) Talbot (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,473 15–10 26 July 25 Chicago L 87–101 Bonner (30) Bonner (13) January (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,338 15–11 27 July 31 Seattle L 91–102 Griner (25) Griner (6) Tied (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,005 15–12
August : 5–2 (Home: 4–1; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 28 August 1 @ Las Vegas W 104–93 Taurasi (37) Bonner (14) Taurasi (9) Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,129 16–12 29 August 5 @ Los Angeles L 75–78 Griner (22) Bonner (9) January (9) Staples Center 19,076 16–13 30 August 7 Washington L 98–103 Griner (35) Griner (11) Talbot (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 7,769 16–14 31 August 10 Indiana W 94–74 Tied (14) Bonner (10) Griner (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,860 17–14 32 August 12 Los Angeles W 86–78 Bonner (31) Griner (13) Taurasi (14) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,618 18–14 33 August 17 Atlanta W 104–95 Griner (33) Griner (18) Taurasi (14) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,177 19–14 34 August 19 New York W 96–85 Bonner (23) Bonner (10) Tied (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 13,106 20–14
2018 season schedule

Playoffs

2018 playoff game log Total: 4–3 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–3)
First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 August 21 Dallas W 101–83 Bonner (29) Tied (11) Taurasi (12) Wells Fargo Arena 4,976 1–0
Second Round: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 August 23 @ Connecticut W 96–86 Tied (27) Bonner (18) 3 Tied (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,858 1–0
WNBA Semifinals: 2–3 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 August 26 @ Seattle L 87–91 Bonner (27) Bonner (13) Taurasi (6) KeyArena 9,686 0–1 2 August 28 @ Seattle L 87–91 (OT) Taurasi (28) Griner (10) Taurasi (8) KeyArena 9,686 0–2 3 August 31 Seattle W 86–66 Bonner (27) Bonner (11) Turner (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 15,185 1–2 4 September 2 Seattle W 86–84 Griner (29) Griner (12) Taurasi (4) Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,137 2–2 5 September 4 @ Seattle 84–94 Griner (21) Griner (9) Griner (6) KeyArena 8,992 2–3
2018 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Seattle Storm (1)	26	8	.765	–	13–4	13–4	11–5
2	Phoenix Mercury (5)	20	14	.588	6	9–8	11–6	8–8
3	Los Angeles Sparks (6)	19	15	.559	7	11–6	8–9	9–7
4	Minnesota Lynx (7)	18	16	.529	8	9–8	9–8	9–7
5	Dallas Wings (8)	15	19	.441	11	10–7	5–12	7–9
6	e –Las Vegas Aces	14	20	.412	12	8–9	6–11	4–12

Playoffs

Main article: 2018 WNBA Playoffs

	First round Single elimination (Aug. 21)					Second round Single elimination (Aug. 23)					Semifinals Best-of-5 (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4)					WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12)
											1	Seattle Storm	3
						4	Connecticut Sun	86			5	Phoenix Mercury	2
	5	Phoenix Mercury	101			5	Phoenix Mercury	96								1	Seattle Storm	3
	8	Dallas Wings	83													3	Washington Mystics	0
											2	Atlanta Dream	2
						3	Washington Mystics	96			3	Washington Mystics	3
	6	Los Angeles Sparks	75			6	Los Angeles Sparks	64
	7	Minnesota Lynx	68

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

• Bold – Game or series winner
• Italic – Team with home-court advantage

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Diana Taurasi	33	33	30.0	.446	.383	.925	3.5	5.3	0.9	0.2	20.7
Brittney Griner	34	34	32.6	.544	.250	.800	7.7	2.1	0.5	2.6	20.5
DeWanna Bonner	34	34	32.9	.452	.313	.867	7.2	3.2	1.3	0.4	17.3
Sancho Lyttle	18	18	23.3	.540	.000	.875	5.3	1.4	0.9	0.4	7.9
Briann January	33	33	27.1	.423	.470	.806	2.1	3.3	0.6	0.1	7.0
Leilani Mitchell	31	0	14.9	.351	.341	.857	1.4	2.3	0.5	0.2	4.4
Yvonne Turner	32	3	13.3	.376	.324	.682	1.8	1.3	0.7	0.1	4.1
Stephanie Talbot	31	8	14.6	.464	.386	.905	1.9	1.3	0.5	0.3	3.7
Camille Little	33	7	16.2	.330	.258	.774	1.8	1.2	0.5	0.3	3.0
Angel Robinson	24	0	9.9	.452	.000	.850	3.0	0.5	0.2	0.3	2.3
Devereaux Peters	5	0	7.6	.333	.000	.000	1.6	0.4	0.0	0.0	1.6
Marie Gülich	23	0	5.0	.483	.000	.750	1.0	0.1	0.0	0.2	1.5

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Brittney Griner	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	June 11, 2018	[10]
Diana Taurasi	WNBA Cares Community Assist Award – May	June 20, 2018	[11]
	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month – June	July 3, 2018	[12]
Sandy Brondello	WNBA Coach of the Month Award – June	July 2, 2018	[13]
Diana Taurasi	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 17, 2018	[14]
DeWanna Bonner
Brittney Griner
DeWanna Bonner	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	August 20, 2018	[15]
Diana Taurasi	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month – August	August 20, 2018	[16]